Oman’s school system is of relatively recent origin, having been developed from the 1970’s and much is expected of Omani schoolteachers. The research reported in this thesis was a comprehensive attempt to explore Omani schoolteachers’ understanding of the term motivation. A mixed methods approach was used, with a large-scale questionnaire survey of 3065 teachers producing a 69% response rate (2112) and yielding results that were subject to further exploration by means of 7 teacher focus-groups (with 53 teachers participating), 21 interviews with individual teachers, and 3 focus-groups with 21 headteachers. The key finding from the research was that the overwhelming majority of Omani schoolteachers participating in the research regard themselves as motivated with the most important motivating factors for them being working with pupils and being productive in society. However, both Omani teachers and headteachers would appreciate a reduction in administration and greater participation in decision-making. Analysis of my findings distinguished four groups of factors that might provide better understanding of motivation of Omani schoolteachers. These four divisions are (1) the main factors that appeared to attract Omanis to teaching profession, (2) the main factors that appeared to contribute to confirm or extend the initial motivation to enter the teaching profession, (3) two factors that appeared to increase the level of motivation of Omani schoolteachers, and (4) the main factors that appeared to contribute in maintaining the level of motivation of Omani schoolteachers, which I term guarantors. The findings from this research should help teacher educators and policy makers in Oman better understand teacher motivation. The research concludes some practical recommendations that might help maintain or enhance teacher motivation and some recommendations for follow-up research. Finally, I hope the research has contributed a little to the ongoing international debate around teacher motivation, from an Omani perspective.

This study brings together many of the concerns elaborated by other educational researchers: teachers’ voice, teachers’ professional identities, teachers’ lives and work, and teaching professionalism in research in dance education. It aims to study the life stories of school teachers who were initially trained to be dance performers. Using a biographical approach, the life stories of nine Taiwanese secondary school teachers are collected to investigate the influences of their previous experiences, such as dance learning experience, initial teacher training experience, teacher role models, significant people and critical moments, in relation to their notions of professional identity. As this research is based on teachers’ accounts, it brings together nine individual life stories and allows us to compare the existing literature to contribute to educational research and research in dance education in a number of ways. First, the study takes a particular methodological approach, the narrative approach, to conduct a small scale study in a new area, research in dance education. Second, this study carries out empirical work, exploring the professional identity of dance specialist teachers, something not done before. Third, this study applies the existing knowledge from educational research to research in dance in education. Fourth, this study applies an already well-known theory, Wenger’s theories of identity in communities of practice and boundary encounters, but with a new interpretation to investigate the process of identity conceptualization. Fifth, this study tests an old issue – teachers’ professional identity – by exploring teachers’ notions of self that draw upon their previous experiences. Previous relevant studies, however, have been in a Western context; this study is within a Taiwanese context. The complexity of dance in education in the Taiwanese curriculum is highlighted, and the findings offer a picture of a developing sense of dance-trained teachers’ artist-self and teacher-self, and details of the different degrees of influences of previous experiences to the identity conceptualization. Importantly, the connections between the conceptions of the professional identity teachers have and their concepts of the teaching profession are explored. In particular, their voices on professional development are shown throughout the changes to their personal concepts of teacher professionalism, which leads to an argument for professional sharing as a key to supporting teachers in the profession.

<p>During the 19th century the Elementary school and its teachers emerge in the city of Halmstad and in the parish of Veinge as well as in Sweden overall. The aim of the essay is to enthrone these teachers’ conditions and a comparison is done between the teachers in these two places. The mate-rial that is used is for example minutes from the board of education in Veinge and the city council of Halmstad, collected works about the elementary school of Halmstad as well as litera-ture regarding the subject. The essay starts with a short background history about the Elementary school and its teachers. Then it continues to discuss whether it was important to have a teacher’s education or not, how the teachers were treated in the community, the teachers’ work and its biggest problem, and finally, salary, dismissal and pension. The essay shows that differences as well as similarities exist, which proves the complexity of the teachers’ conditions.</p>

During the 19th century the Elementary school and its teachers emerge in the city of Halmstad and in the parish of Veinge as well as in Sweden overall. The aim of the essay is to enthrone these teachers’ conditions and a comparison is done between the teachers in these two places. The mate-rial that is used is for example minutes from the board of education in Veinge and the city council of Halmstad, collected works about the elementary school of Halmstad as well as litera-ture regarding the subject. The essay starts with a short background history about the Elementary school and its teachers. Then it continues to discuss whether it was important to have a teacher’s education or not, how the teachers were treated in the community, the teachers’ work and its biggest problem, and finally, salary, dismissal and pension. The essay shows that differences as well as similarities exist, which proves the complexity of the teachers’ conditions.

Magistro darbe suformuluota, kas yra pedagogų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo sistemos aktualijos. Darbe atskleistos Šiaulių bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose dirbančių pedagogų nuomonės apie kvalifikacijos tobulinimo sistemą: dabartinės situacijos vertinimas; lūkesčiai; kylantys sunkumai. Tyrimo tikslui pasiekti, duomenys analizuojami dviem metodais: kiekybiniu (statistinių duomenų analizė), kokybiniu (anketoje esančių atvirų klausimų analizė). Analizuojamas ugdomosios veiklos tikslingumas, veiksmingumas, rezultatyvumas; bendravimas, bendradarbiavimas, veikla institucijos bendruomenėje bei asmeninis profesinis tobulėjimas. Taip pat analizuojami praktikoje naudojami kvalifikacijos tobulinimo metodai, motyvacija. Tyrime dalyvavo Šiaulių miesto bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų pedagogai (N=192). Tyrimo ataskaitoje patvirtinama, jog pedagogų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo sistemoje būtina pertvarka. Kyla finansiniai, vietos, laiko, metodų naudojimo ir kt. sunkumai. Norint optimizuoti pedagogų darbo veiklą ir gauti teigiamus rezultatus, būtina kaita. Bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose, pedagogų kvalifikacijos tobulinimo sistemos pertvarka sudarytų sąlygas pagerinti mokytojų darbo efektyvumą ir rezultatyvumą bei visą švietimo plėtotės kokybę. / This Master’s work reveals topicalities of the schoolteachers’ qualification improvement system. In this work the opinions of Šiauliai general education school schoolteachers about qualification improvement system are provided: assessment of current situation, expectations, difficulties. In order to achieve the aim, data has been analyzed in two methods: quantitative analysis (analysis of statistical data) and qualitative analysis (analysis of open questions in questionnaire). Expedience of educational activity, effectiveness, usefulness, communication, collaboration, activity in institution community and personal professional development has been analyzed. Motivation and qualification improvement methods that are used in practice, has been also analyzed in this work. Schoolteachers of Šiauliai city general education schools participated in the research (N=192). The findings of the research confirm the need to reform the schoolteachers' qualification improvement system. Financial, place, time, methods' usage and other difficulties arise. In order to optimize the activity of schoolteachers and to achieve positive results, the turnover is necessary. Reform of schoolteachers’ qualification improvement system at general education schools would create conditions to improve effectiveness and usefulness of teachers’ work and quality of overall education system development.

Student Number : 0205732P - MA research report - Faculty of Humanities / In the only national study of HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in South Africa, using racial groups as categories of analysis, it was found that 6.2% of White South Africans are HIV positive (Nelson Mandela/HSRC, 2002). This prevalence is higher than in ‘White’ populations in other countries (Nelson Mandela/HSRC, 2002). This high prevalence rate amongst white South Africans, though researched and published, appears to be unknown amongst white schoolteachers. Those armed with this knowledge, the media and prevention campaigns, seem to perpetuate the stereotypical image that HIV/AIDS is a ‘Black’ disease. This perception, evident amongst the schoolteachers interviewed, seems to stem from the personal experiences that the teachers have had, the social encounters experienced, as well as the prejudices created about Black people throughout colonial and apartheid times. Promiscuity is considered as the number one reason why the spread of HIV/AIDS has been so rampant in South Africa. Therefore, Black people are not only perceived as being promiscuous, but HIV positive. Due to the fact that respondents seem to make a natural connection between HIV/AIDS and race, emphasis must be placed on White South Africans, in order to aid in the dispelling of false and potentially fatal misconceptions. A false sense of security does exist amongst the white schoolteachers interviewed. A large majority did not perceive themselves, their family or friends, as being at risk of HIV/AIDS infection. However, cognizance must be taken of the fact that this perception has not merely been thought up at random, it is the product of a racialized past.

Conflicts and aggression at school : the standpoint of schoolteachers and students Rita Lindinaitė Summary One of the most concerning and urgent social problems of today is the increasing number of aggressive children and teenagers. Lot’s of children use physical and verbal aggression, violence, solving conflicated situations. Often they don’t even think about the consequences. According to the press, it is usual at school for students and even schoolteachers to act aggressively. That’s the social urgency of this work. It is discussing about the conception of conflict and aggression, the reasons of them, solutions of conflicts and the ways of changing aggressive behaviour in this work, also the expression of conflicts and aggressive behaviour between young children and teenagers, the specific features of schoolchildren with mental disorder. The purpose of this research was to disclose the standpoint to the conflicts and aggression at school of schoolchildren with mental disorder, special teachers and high school teachers. The hypothesis of this work says that there are conflicts and aggression between schoolchildren themselves and between schoolchildren and teachers. There where used the questionnaire of twenty five schoolchildren with mental disorder, fifty special teachers and fifty high school teachers. The results of this questionnaire affirm, that the schoolchildren often get in conflict with other students or with schoolteachers – physical and... [to full text]

[pt] Esta tese tem como objetivo central investigar, através de registros e reproduções fotográficas, as relações sociais, usos e costumes que emergem das imagens de professoras de escolas municipais do Rio de Janeiro, no período compreendido entre final do século XIX (década de 1890) e início do século XX (décadas iniciais), analisando como a imagem das professoras vem sendo veiculada e agregada a valores pelo documento fotográfico, refletida no cotidiano e nas práticas escolares da época focalizada neste estudo. Dessa forma, o trabalho tomou o curso de um estudo histórico-sociológico na de busca de significados, manifestos e latentes, no discurso visual das imagens fotográficas de professoras de escolas públicas do município do Rio de Janeiro, percorrendo documentos fotográficos do final do século XIX e início do século XX - Primeira República -, numa tentativa de mapear os usos e costumes pedagógicos da vida cotidiana, inseridos no trabalho docente dessas professoras que inscreveram suas identidades e como são olhadas ao longo das épocas. A escolha da cidade do Rio de Janeiro se deve ao fato de ter sido este município a capital do país, tendo abrigado e emanado, então, modos oficiais de conduta profissional para o magistério, assim como para outras profissões, além de, nos dias de hoje, continuar sendo uma cidade-pólo difusora de hábitos e costumes que se difundem por todo o país. A estrutura de análise tem como texto principal a fotografia como texto visual, tomando por base os caminhos teóricos nos estudos de Bóris Kossoy, Ana Maria Mauad, Lorenzo Vilches, Ruggiero Eugeni, Roland Barthes, entre outros autores apresentados. As considerações finais apontam que o estudo de imagens, documentos fotográficos de professoras de escolas públicas do município do Rio de Janeiro, pode trazer propostas de um novo olhar sobre a construção da identidade docente, sobre as redes onde essa identidade é tecida e se configura, não estando essas imagens alheias aos acontecimentos, tampouco às ideologias das épocas em que foram produzidas, registradas e veiculadas. Essas imagens não podem ser analisadas sem que o espectador do agora esteja impregnado da época em que vive, o que abre caminho para um dialogismo entre o registro e a visão desse observador atual. / [en] This thesis aims mainly at investigating, through photographic records and reproductions, the social relations and customs which emerge from the analysis of images of Rio de Janeiro`s municipal school teachers, during the period between the end of the 19th century (the 1890s) and the beginning of the 20th century (its initial decades). By analyzing how the images of the teachers was made public and attached to values through photographic documents, reflected in everyday school practices of the period investigated, the work took the form of a historicalsociological study. This search for meaning in the visual discourse of the photographic images analyzed allowed the mapping of the everyday pedagogical customs of these female teachers who imprinted their identities. The structure used to analyze the photographs was based on the premise which also defines photography as a visual text, benefiting from the theoretical leads laid by Boris Kossoy, Ana Maria Mauad, Lorenzo Vilches, Ruggero Eugeni, Erwin Panofsky, Roland Barthes, among other authors cited. The city of Rio de Janeiro was chosen because it was the country`s capital until the year 1960, besides the fact that, nowadays, it remains a broadcasting hub in terms of habits and customs which spread throughout the country, having, therefore, welcomed and emanated official modes of professional conduct; in the case of this thesis, the identity of female schoolteachers. The final considerations of the work point out that the study of images and photographic documents of Rio de Janeiro`s elementary public school teachers offers a new look on the construction of the teaching identity, on the networks from which this identity is woven. These images do reflect the facts as well as the ideologies of the periods in which they were produced, recorded and made public. They can only be analyzed if today`s audience is permeated not only by the time in which it lives, but also by the context in which these photographs were taken, which opens the way to a dialogue between the record and the view of the contemporary observer.

Detta är en studie om fritidshemslärarnas erfarenheter av att använda digitala verktyg i fritidshemmet. Studien syftar till att utforska fritidshemslärares syn på utmaningar och möjligheter med IKT. Frågeställningarna fokuserar på lärarnas erfarenheter och beskrivningar av användningen av IKT. Vår genomgång av tidigare forskning har visat på både möjligheter och utmaningar med IKT i skolmiljöer. Vi har utgått ur en pedagogisk synvinkel som baseras på en kvalitativ studie utifrån empiriskt material som inhämtats från intervjuer med sex fritidshemslärare om deras upplevelser av möjligheter och utmaningar med att använda digitala verktyg i fritidshemsverksamheten. Vi har även analyserat hur elever och fritidshemslärare lär sig av varandra genom att använda digitala verktyg och vilka konsekvenser det har för fritidshemslärarnas yrkesroll. Vi har utgått från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, Vygotskijs begrepp om proximal utvecklingszon, mediering och artefakter. Dessa teorier hjälper oss att förstå hur barn lär genom interaktion och användning av digitala verktyg som kulturella artefakter. Resultaten visar att digitala verktyg kan bidra till att främja elevernas intresse, kreativitet och kunskap om olika ämnesområden. Fritidshemslärarna upplever både möjliga aspekter av digitalintegration och utmaningar som brist på resurser såsom, otillräckligt antal iPads eller att befintliga enheter är föråldrade och behovet av att hantera skärmtid och integritet. I diskussionsavsnittet behandlas studiens resultat och analys i relation till tidigare forskning för att identifiera jämförelsepunkter och likheter. / This is a study on leisure-time teachers' experiences of using digital tools in leisure-time centers. The study aims to explore leisure-time teachers' views on the challenges and opportunities with ICT. The research questions focus on the teachers' experiences and descriptions of using ICT. Our review of previous research has shown both opportunities and challenges with ICT in the school environments. We have approached this from an educational perspective based on a qualitative study derived from empirical material gathered from interviews with six leisure-time teachers about their experiences of the opportunities and challenges of using digital tools in leisure activities. We have also analyzed how students and leisure-time teachers learn from each other by using digital tools and what consequences this has for the professional role of leisure-time teachers. We have adopted a sociocultural perspective, Vygotsky's concepts of the zone of proximal development, mediation, and artifacts. These theories help us understand how children learn through interaction and the use of digital tools as cultural artifacts. The results show that digital tools can help promote students' interest, creativity, and knowledge of various subject areas. Leisure-time teachers experience both possible aspects of digital integration and challenges such as a lack of resources, such as an insufficient number of iPads or that existing devices are outdated, and the need to manage screen time and privacy. In the discussion section, the study's results and analysis are examined in relation to previous research to identify points of comparison and similarities.

Os traumatismos nas dentições decíduas e permanentes e suas estruturas de suporte ocorrem com grande freqüência em crianças e diversos estudos epidemiológicos identificaram a escola como um local com alta freqüência destes tipos de traumatismos. Desta forma, é comum que o atendimento imediato da criança seja realizado pelos professores, os quais podem ser responsáveis pelo insucesso do tratamento da lesão pelo cirurgião-dentista, caso haja falhas no manuseio dos dentes traumatizados no local do acidente. Assim, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar os conhecimentos de professores do Ensino Fundamental sobre procedimentos de urgência nos traumatismos alvéolo-dentários com especial enfoque sobre as avulsões, seu reimplante e acondicionamento e avaliar a necessidade de informações adicionais sobre traumatismos destes profissionais. As escolas pertencentes ao bairro Butantã foram convidadas a participar deste estudo que consistiu na aplicação de um questionário com perguntas referentes a: dados pessoais como gênero, idade, experiência profissional, nível de instrução, disciplina lecionada, treinamento em primeiros socorros, assim como perguntas relativas a noções de atendimento ao aluno vítima de traumatismo alvéolo-dentário referente a simulações de um caso de fratura dental e um outro de avulsão dental, procedimentos de urgência em casos de avulsão e a medicação utilizada. Os resultados obtidos a partir de 177 questionários retornados pelos professores foram tabulados, apurados e analisados estatisticamente através do software Epi Info 6. Os resultados demonstraram que os professores apresentaram um número maior de respostas corretas nas questões que envolveram especificamente fratura dental, tempo e local de procura por atendimento profissional, sendo que para as questões relativas ao reimplante e acondicionamento de dentes avulsionados as respostas foram inadequadas. Verificou-se que a responsabilidade pelo atendimento urgencial de um aluno vítima de algum acidente, segundo a amostra consultada, deveria ficar a cargo de toda a equipe escolar e não somente ao professor. Finalmente, constatou-se que os professores da amostra possuem pouco conhecimento sobre o tema, o que, associado à falta de treinamento, pode torná-los despreparados para solucionar adequadamente eventuais acidentes que envolvam os escolares em traumas dento-alveolares. Esta limitação de conhecimentos quanto aos procedimentos adequados relacionados aos traumatismos alvéolo-dentários, principalmente as avulsões, reforça a necessidade de educação para o público leigo não apenas no que se refere ao atendimento inicial de um traumatismo alvéolo-dentário, mas também no que se concerne às medidas preventivas. / Several epidemiological studies have reported that schoolchildren are prone to suffer accidents in their school environment that could cause dental trauma to either primary or permanent teeth and the corresponding supporting structures. These children normally receive first aid care from teachers who are not adequately trained to handle traumatized teeth at the site of the accident and therefore could lessen the chances of success of the dentist in treating the injury. The aim of our study was to evaluate the degree of information that elementary school teachers have when dealing with emergency procedures concerning replant and storage of avulsed teeth and consider the importance of offering further education on dental trauma. Our method consisted in applying a questionnaire to elementary schoolteachers at the district of Butanta, São Paulo. Questions included information concerning personal data such as: gender, age, professional experience, level of education, discipline taught, and first aid training, mainly in relation to dental trauma. Also included were a case simulations of dental fractures, a case of dental avulsion and questions referring to emergency procedures on dental avulsion and medication. The results obtained from the 177 questionnaires answered by the teachers were tabulated, confirmed and statistically analyzed by the software Epi Info 6. Questions involving dental fracture and time and place for pursuing professional help received the most correct answers whereas the ones referring to replant and storage of avulsed teeth were unsatisfactory. According to investigated sample not only the teachers, but also all the school personnel should be responsible for adequate emergency management of students suffering accidents, including dental trauma. The teachers involved in our study demonstrated very little knowledge on the subject and therefore their lack of adequate practical training results in inadequate management of situations involving accidents leading to dento-alveolar traumas, mainly avulsions. We reinforce the need of education of lay people dealing with the initial management of a dental trauma as well as orientation on preventive measures.